July 2026
New Posts This Month…
The Weather
I’m a Brit so I’m going to start this by talking about the weather this month - what the fuck! We’re meant to be a country of dazzling rain and lush green grass, but at the moment my grass is all straw like and my water butts are completely drained! It was nice to get a week of it but after that I was done with it. I can’t remember the last time it rained and it’s really muddling my brain. It’s completely drained my energy and left me with no motivation to actually get out of the house and do some of the things I’ve wanted to do.
Beaulieu, National Motor Museum
I had fond memories of the National Motor Museum as a kid and in the 25+ years since I last visited the place is still a great place to visit, I particularly liked checking out all the race cars in there. The monorail was fun to ride on (although terrified Min!) and see more of the area. We only spent a few hours there but it was a great joy and brought back a lot of good memories - especially seeing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! We took Min’s wheelchair for this trip and it was actually quite fun pushing them around, it’s a very accessible venue!
Setthorns Campsite, The New Forest
I’d never been to Setthorns before but as we were in the area we decided to spend the night in the New Forest in the van, we hoped that this would be a less busy option with the New Forest festival going and we were very pleasantly surprised. We ended up parking in a small gladed area with a handful of other people there so had a lot of space and spent most of the time enjoying the cooler temperature in the forest. The campsite is very basic with no wash rooms or toilets which made it a very basic and simple experience.
Music
This month I added to my vinyl collection by buying three records;
KoRn - Issues: When I was a teen I was so into KoRn, this and Follow The Leader were two of my absolute favourite albums, I now have both of them on record and they make me feel quite nostalgic for the past, and surprisingly I still quite like the music.
Marina and the Diamonds - Electra Heart: I adore Marina’s music, her voice calls to me. Bubblegum Bitch was one of the first tracks I heard of hers, it was only recontly I discovered she had a ‘recent’ album out, so I started there then grabbed Electra which is my favourite album.
Katseye - Beautiful Chaos: So this is a wildcard which I don’t know if I like the band or not, but I can’t deny their music is catchy! My daughter is obsessed with the band and pre-ordered their Wild album.
On the topic of my daughter and that album. She did not have a CD Player so I ordered her one as well as the Beautiful Chaos CD. I never expected her to be interested in listening to music on a CD or anything physical at that, I figured life would be streamed. It’s been so lovely sharing music with her and the experience of playing something physical like this. She set herself up in her room and shut the door with the CD player playing and it took me right back to when I was a kid, something about it felt so wholesome, unlike when it’s streamed music. I can’t quite put my finger on it but it gave me all the good feels.
Formula 1
Silverstone, Britain - This was a great race with a lot going on, however it didn’t end well as it finished under a safety car with two of my favourite drivers not finishing at all. I was sad to see Antonelli not take his rightful place in P1 which would have been well deserved!
Spa, Belgium - Fantastic and high intensity race with so much going on. Those in position deserved to be where they were and it was such a great battle between Kimi and Leclerc. I was so glad to see Max get up there, and also all the gains that Lando made. Great race!
Hungaroring, Hungary - What a weekend! Qualifying was nail biting! The GP itself was an interesting watch and also had me on the edge of the seat, it was fascinating watching the strategy for the race being very pit stop centric. Some intense overtakes throughout as well! It was great to see McLaren do so well this race, and of course to see my boy Antonelli get a podium.
Podcasts…
What To Carry, What To Burn Podcast
What To Carry, What To Burn - Episode 1: The Friendly Arctic
The first part of Ada Blackjack’s story set in Wrangel Island in the arctic circle, told by Blair Braverman, a dogsledder and adventurer in Alaska. In episode 1 she is joined by her friend Sarah, where they both discuss the story as it’s being told and bring their real life experiences to the table. It’s a captivating podcast.
What To Carry, What To Burn - Episode 2: Ada Alone
Second part of the Ada Blackjack story where things are starting to get dire.
Wiki of Ada Blackjack and the Wrangel Island Expedition
What To Carry, What To Burn - Episode 3: The Wreck of the Grafton
A really moving story of survival set in the subantarctic. It was very well told by Blair and made me feel really involved in what was going on, like a fly on the wall and able to picture the enviroment and setting. I really like that in this story the two main leads had a chronic illness and chronic mental health issues which weren’t seen as a detrimental thing. You can read about the story here.
What To Carry, What To Burn - Episode 4: Bob and the Invercauld
Such a contrast from the 3rd episode which is on the same island at roughly the same time. Listening to the two stories back to back was amazing and really hit home with the bit in this story about James and the slate! This story really showed how some people are so entitled and other people are generous to a fault. You can read a bit about the story here.
What To Carry, What To Burn - Episode 5: Lauren Elder
This felt like a much briefer story than the previous but still a fascinating and shows that the drive to survive is a strong will, those who lay down and give up don’t tend to make it, but having some optimism and hope for survival is such a strong force. You can read about Lauren Elder here.
Squarespace…
Is becoming increasingly problematic for me and with it a whole host of frustration. I blog because I enjoy blogging. What I don’t enjoy is Squarespace failing to load the save button and forcing me to reload and lose all of the content I’ve written. What I don’t enjoy is having to endlessly reload Squarespace in hopes that I can log in. It’s only over the past 3 months it’s been doing it, but the frequency is increasing to the point that, although I like the simplicity of Squarespace and moving to another platform would be a huge pain in the arse, it’s becoming more and more probable.
